Tag Archives: mobile crane

Huib van der Hart’s erection is so big it can’t be photographed. Thankfully he has managed to capture it in a more compact state, but even then it’s still absolutely massive. We’re talking about Huib’s unbelievable 1:16 scale Liebherr LTM 1750 mobile crane in BKV livery; all 18 wheels of it.

Huib’s model is – as you can see here – astonishingly well detailed, but that’s only half the build. Underneath that amazing exterior is a full Power Functions remote control drivetrain, with six XL Motors providing drive, seven Servo motors steering all nine axles, and a third-party SBrick providing control via bluetooth. There are also working LED lights throughout plus – of course – this model can get much, much bigger.

There’s a lot more to see of this incredible build at Huib’s Flickr photostream – click the link to make the jump, and ask him if he can try to get it up for a photo.

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Casual readers of TLCB would be forgiven for thinking that this site only likes motorised remote control Technic creations. However whilst we certainly do appreciate a decent Power Functions model, there’s something charming about a good old-fashioned hand-cranked creation.

Newcomer jwarner’s mobile crane is just that, with no less than six hand-powered functions, including four-axle steering, boom extension and raising/lowering, winch operation, superstructure rotation, and working outriggers.

There’s more to see of jwarner’s build at both Flickr and Eurobricks. Click the links to make use of idle hands.

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It’s that time of year again! With LEGO’s H2 Technic sets on the horizon the survivors from our crack team of Elves – sent to infiltrate The LEGO Company’s HQ – have returned to TLCB Towers with this summer’s bounty. So without further ado, here are the brand new Technic sets due to reach stores on August 1st!

42081 Volvo Autonomous Loader

OK, let’s get the weird one out of the way first. This is a Volvo autonomous loader concept and it is, frankly, one of the oddest Technic sets to appear in recent times. Continuing LEGO’s successful line of officially-licensed vehicles the new concept loader joins the previous (and excellent) Volvo Technic sets, but differs in that it isn’t a replica of a real-life Volvo at all. This makes it – in our eyes at least – utterly pointless.

Like many of LEGO’s recent Technic sets 42081 straddles the Model Team and Technic themes, bringing increased visual realism to functional models (only 42081 can’t be visually realistic because there is no real-world equivalent). All-wheel-steering, a mechanically raising and tipping bucket, and – for reasons we simply don’t understand – a model of a quadcopter drone are all included.

Expected to cost around $140 there are probably better ways to obtain 1,167 yellow and black pieces for your collection…

42080 Forest Harvester

This is more like it. Aimed at ages 10+ LEGO’s new 1,000-peice 42080 Forest Harvester set is the first to include Power Functions 2.0 (which may also mean the possibility of App control). We’ll have to wait until we get our hands on the new components to test out the upgrades, but the fact that the set also includes new pneumatics is cause for celebration!

We expect 42080 to use the new system to drive a pneumatic compressor that powers both the raising/lowering of the arm and the grabby/rolly/cutty thingumy on the end of it (which also looks to feature some new spiky round bricks). Mechanical functions are likely to include centre articulation and working steering, plus a little workbench and brick-built chainsaw are thrown in (somewhat unnecessarily) for good measure too.

We expect the brightly-coloured 42080 Forest Harvester set to cost around $150 when it reaches shelves later this year, which makes it $150 better value than that Volvo…

42079 Forklift Truck

A staple feature throughout Technic’s long history, we’ve lost count of the number of forklift trucks in LEGO’s back-catalogue. The new set does appear to be one of the best though, and it could very well be the sweet-spot in the H2 Technic range. With Hand-of-God rear-wheel steering, a tilting fork, and an interesting-looking rope-activated lift mechanism, 42079 includes just enough mechanically-operated functionality to be interesting.

We think it looks rather nice too, with well-judged Model Team detailing, a few stickers teamed with a nice colour choice, and a bonus mystery barrel containing something dangerous. Aimed at ages 9+ 42079 is constructed from just under 600 pieces and is expected to cost around $70 when it reaches stores in August 2018.

42082 Rough Terrain Crane

Now for the big one. This is 42082, LEGO’s 4,000+ piece, $300 flagship, and it’s massive. With the highest piece-count of any Technic set to date, plus Power Functions, 42082 is set to lift (hah!) the top tier of LEGO Technic even further towards engineering for adults.

An enormous extending boom (and it really is huge – the picture above shows it in its most compact setting), superstructure slew, boom raising/lowering and winch control are all driven electronically by LEGO’s Power Functions system, plus there are working outriggers, steering, and a V8 piston engine.

As with all of the new Technic sets 42082 will include instructions for a B-model, and it also features a wealth of stickers (each new set seems to include decals denoting the set no.) as part of a trend towards increasing the visual realism of Technic.

This is a fully operable, fully remote controlled replica of Grove GMK 6400 mobile crane, and it is spectacular. Built by ShineYu aka Yu Kee Liu it’s one of the largest, most detailed, and most authentically recreated vehicles that we have ever seen.

Other than the 82mm tyres and some very neat decals, ShineYu’s Grove GMK is built entirely from our favourite Danish plastic, which makes it all the more impressive that it can drive (with multiple driven and steered axles) and that the GMK 6400’s truly enormous three-stage rotating boom is fully operable, powered by LEGO’s own Power Functions components.

ShineYu has published an extensive gallery of images detailing his remote controlled Grove GMK 6400 to both Flickr and the Eurobricks forum, where you can see that incredible boom in its raised position. They’re the only links to a giant erection on the whole of the internet that are safe to click! Take a look and be amazed.

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It’s not size that matters but what you can do with it, and Eurobricks’ Paave can do a lot. This diddy Technic mobile crane might be considerably smaller than pretty much any other Technic creation we’ve blogged, but it’s got more squeezed inside it than your Mom’s corset.

The rotating superstructure, elevating and extending boom, hoist, steering and outriggers are all functional via hand-powered mechanics, and Paave has managed to ensure his model looks pretty good too. It’s just the sort of thing we’d like to see from an entry-level Technic set and there’s more to see on Eurobricks via the link above or via Brickshelf here.

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Nick Barrett’s got a big one. It might not look it here, but this 15-wide Liebherr LTM 1130 mobile crane can grow to almost six feet tall! A four part extending boom is the key to such impressive length, utilising reels of string and a full-length ratchet mechanism (no linear actuators here). The entire superstructure can turn too, allowing the boom to slew left and right whilst the control cab can tilt to enable the driver to look along his huge appendage.

Working suspension on all five axles provides a smooth ride, and helps to keep the boom up when the going gets rough, a V8 piston engine is turned via axle 4, whilst steering on axles 1, 2 and 5 allows the crane to get into tighter positions. That’s quite a list, as Nick’s build is packed with playable features, and you can see more – including photos of the Liebherr in its fully-extended glory – at his MOCpage. Click the link to get it up!

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We love a good crane here at The Lego Car Blog. After supercars, cranes are one of the types of model that we seem to blog the most. Be they teeny tiny or monstrous, cranes are a favourite topic. Today’s crane comes from TLCB regular Galaktek. Many of the working features that you’d expect to see in a big Technic MOC have been included in this elegant 4-wide model. It also comes with its own back-up truck, which you can see in Galaktek’s Photostream.

Measuring almost a meter long and weighing over 10KG, ShineYu’s creation is of genuinely epic proportions, so much so that photographing it must’ve been a real challenge (we’ve even relaxed our ‘exclude any clutter from shot‘ rule to accommodate it!).

The model is driven by four XL Motors with two Medium Motors controlling the four steering axels. A further Medium Motor rotates the crane turnable whilst another two XLs take care of the boom elevation and extension. A final two XL Motors power the lifting winch. All of that power means that ShineYu’s LTM can lift a load of up to 2KG to 2 meters using unmodified official LEGO parts.

You can all the details of this incredible build at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where there’s also an extensive image gallery and a link to a video of the crane in action.